Wonders of Wisconsin, our best kept secrets

Gary Knowles is a travel editor for a Milwaukee paper , and author of The Great Wisconsin Touring Book . So, he knows a thing or two about our state's natural and man-made wonders, and he decided to compile a list of what he calls, the Wonders of Wisconsin .

"Everybody kind of wants to say, 'Well we're a best-kept secret.' And you know, my feeling is, let's not have any more secrets."

The yet-to-be-narrowed-down list of Wisconsin Wonders consists of nominations submitted by people from throughout the state. Knowles says he had around 600 different submissions for the list, which will ultimately be the people's wonders .

"We had so many things and so many wonders we actually had to narrow it down and we narrowed it down to 244 nominees in 21 categories."

Categories such as natural wonders, human-created or scenic drives. …Everything from the Apostle Islands to the House on the Rock and the state Capitol building . Knowles says the list will continue to grow — and change — because we are always learning about cool new things in our state.

"I've been traveling the state more years than I care to admit right now but I never seize to be amazed at how many neat things are out there that I haven't seen before."

Voting for the final list of Wisconsin Wonders starts today and goes through April 15, but you can only vote once! Winners will be announced on April 26. A free newsletter is in the works to inform people of our state's wonders.